Tuesday, September 7, 2010

AHMEDABAD: The scene was that of a jhopad-patti in Mumbai as the local hoodlum Anthony and police inspector Amar fought it out one-to-one.

Using strong punches and smooth overthrows of judo, the inspector, played by Vinod Khanna, overpowers the angry young man played by Amitabh Bachchan when challenged to a man-to-man combat.

This rather memorable scene of the Bollywood chartbuster that ends with the cop carrying this 'vanquished' notorious-local goon on his shoulders to the lock-up might soon be a reality in Gujarat! Cops in Gujarat, from constables to police inspectors, are now being trained in unarmed combat.

This module of 'practical martial arts for policemen' is derived from Wing-Tsun (a form of Chinese Kung-Fu). The UAC techniques also include a smattering of Karate, Judo and Sabate techniques. Additional director general of police (training) SS Khandwawala has recently intiated a project that eventually aims to train all Gujarat cops in martial arts.

"Coaching the policemen in the latest techniques of unarmed combat is not only to strengthen their self defense but also to ensure a high-level of physical fitness. Boost in confidence of the police personnel is also likely to be one of the positive outcomes of this training schedule that is soon to be under implementation," Khandwawala told TNN.

The first step in imparting martial arts training to the cops was taken by training the police forces' 'gurus' --Additional Drill Instructors (ADI). Sixteen ADIs from all the four police training institutes in Gujarat -- at Karai, Junagad, Chowki and Vadodara -- are being coached by Donald Melville.

Melville is a fifth dan (second level) of Wing-Tsun and has more than 30 years of training experience. He has also been instrumental in training four batches of 225 IPS officers at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, nine of whom are now posted in Gujarat.

On November the second module of ADIs' training would commence Vadodara where Melville currently stationed. "After this module, the ADIs, who are already quite well-versed in martial arts, would be ready to impart these unique UAC techniques that are developed mainly from Wing-Tsun and Karate to other police personnel," Melville told TNN.

His success rate in coaching IPS and other police officials lie in a simple fact that Wing-Tsun techniques are focussed on attacking punches, kicks.